To piggy back off the last post on chiropractic and relate it to the importance of chiropractic care during pregnancy – lets first get a mental image of the anatomy. Think of your uterus as a deflated balloon sitting in your pelvic cavity. You have two ligaments that attach to the front of your uterus that also attach to your pubic bone (round ligaments) as well as two ligaments that connect to the back of your uterus to your sacral bone (uterosacral ligaments). Now, when you are pregnant, and your uterus starts to grow and expand with your developing baby, imagine how that deflated balloon is going to start filling up. This is where I use the analogy of your uterus being a hot air balloon and the 4 ligaments as the ropes that tether the hot air balloon down (in the case of your ligaments they attach to your bony pelvis).
The importance of this is for you to imagine if your pelvis is out of alignment how that is going to pull the ligaments thus ultimately pulling on the uterus and causing torsion within the structure.
The uterine tension may decrease the ability of the baby to move into a desirable position for birth. Remember that balloon analogy? Think of the pull and the uterine tension that will happen if a ligament is pulling on the uterus due to a misalignment of the sacrum/pelvis. The Webster chiropractic adjustment begins the process of realigning the sacrum/pelvis. This then helps to relieve the pull that created the uterine tension and once that tension is removed, your baby may be free to assume its best possible position for birth. The Webster technique is a natural approach that focuses on balancing the pelvis and helps to facilitate normal function throughout pregnancy. I think we can all agree that it’s important for your joints to be moving in preparation for labor and delivery so that your pelvis open up and baby can make its way through the birth canal.
What does that mean? It means labor progresses easier and faster because the Mother’s body is in the best possible alignment for the “big launch!” If you want to move the baby, you need to move the mother.
Getting adjusted consistently during pregnancy can decrease labor time.
° First time Mom’s labor goes from an average of 14 hours down to 9 hours
° Second time Mom’s labor goes from an average time of 9 hours to 7 hours
The best time to start getting adjusted is BEFORE you are pregnant (prepared parenting) but it is never too late to start taking better care of yourself and your family.